I ran my first marathon here in San Francisco, back on June 16th, 2013. The course itself had plenty of beautiful scenery even for those who are familiar with the area, you’ll still get excited looking around. You won’t regret running the Wipro San Francisco Marathon except for the hills but that is what makes it fun right?

How Race Day unfolded:

Woke up at 4:20AM to get ready for the race. Runner’s high for good luck right? HA! My wave was #7 and started at 6:22AM. Since everything was ready, I grabbed my gear (and coffee!) and drove to San Francisco.

I was dropped off by @tammiedinh510 so I didn’t have to worry about parking. I arrived in the city at 5:30AM.

Coming in early was actually a good thing because I had to wait for about 15 minutes for the restroom.

At the starting line, I took a few pictures and videos of the sunrise.

Wipro San Francisco Course Map

Ready. Set. Go!

MILE 1 – 2: First Half and Full Marathon Starting Line

My plan was to have these 2 miles be my slowest miles to conserve energy and I had that fear of bonking and cramping because I have a history of 2 cramps in 2 different races.

Mile 3-5

Time to speed it up! I went on marathon pace which was averaging 10:15. Around this time I passed up the 4:55 pacer. The scenery is just beautiful because there were no clouds or fog in the golden gate bridge.

(Not actual Race Day pic)

Mile 5.5-9.5 Golden Gate

The Golden Gate Bridge starts starts and ends around this distance. The bridge also has a slight elevation gain/loss and not exactly 100% flat. Don’t worry you barley feel it.

On the way back from the halfway mark on the bridge, I suddenly had my name called

JASON!

Mile 9-11.5 Down Up Down Down

Lincoln Blvd is full of rolling hills and a good amount of downhill! I’m going to say there was more downhill but as a side note, do not attempt to run it down if you’re not used to running downhill at a fast speed. You will cramp! (Happened to me : US Half Nov 2012)

My pace at this point was 11s-12s due to hill climbing.

Mile 11.5-12.50 Richmond District

I ran this exact path before and these were even more rolling hills! Suddenly my pace dropped to about 11-12mins miles. Still had energy but you can slowly feel your legs get a bit weaker.

You can tell that the hills are overpowering a lot of runners. A lot of runners were walking.

Mile 12.50- 19 Run through the Forest

To make things worst, the sun was gone and I were left with a cool wind and a very lazy atmosphere.

Reminds me of this :

Seriously, Golden Gate Park is Beautiful in any weather but under the sun it’s just way better

(Not actual race day photo)

When I hit Mile 13.1 I was tired already. A lot went into my mind and I started questioning myself during mile 13.1-15mile

You’re feeling tired and only halfway

Just give it up already, run another one next month

You got this far, it’s good just stop running now

Look at everyone else, some are walking

These people are passing you up.

STOP JASON STOP!

I kept up with the 4:55 pacer before I passed Mile 14 and was left in the dust.

Snacked on a slim jim, salt packets, and a clif bar.

My moral just ran dry from there.

Mile 16 Restroom Break

I stopped completely for my first restroom break since my pace was already sinking to 12:30mins-13miles and there’s no way I will pass the passer. Took my last salt packet and ate a clif bar.

Had no idea my bladder was that full when I walked out of the porto potty.

POWER UP!

I felt recharged and I was back on 11/min again. The next few miles were cake for my physical being but my mental status just hated me at the moment.

Mile Twenty 20

The race just started.

Once I got out of that endless Forest (I still hate you right now) , I hit the 20 mile marker which I applauded myself but then I realized now “I’M HALFWAY”. At least we were back into the city and had a lot of cheers from strangers. YAY!

Now the sun was up but you’re getting fried now. There’s a huge temperature difference but it wasn’t “too hot”

Mile 21 Mile 22 Mile 23

That took forever!

I swear to god, time just slowed all the way down. I would look at my watch and it would say 21.60 then it felt like 10 minutes later it would say 21.70!! Oh Gawd!

Mile 23-24

It was great when we took the turn to go up North. At this point I just felt tired but my confidence level was at 100%

Mile 24.50 was the last water stop

I stopped here to recharge so I can finish with a blast and I knew that by the time I finished, this stop’s hydration was for post race recovery.

Then it happened

Michelle caught up to me! So from there we just gunned it down the track. Our pace got up to 10:30 and this was good considering the hot sun and exhaustion . I can see we were passing up a lot of runners, everyone was at the verge of heavy fatigue.

Honestly all those runners just needed that extra boost

Mile 26 : Home Stretch

Full of adrenaline. I know it’s a finish for RunningMileCom. My last bit of energy we just used our fast twitch muscle fibers and sprinted to the finish. Note that these muscle fibers still have more energy because they have no been used as much in the last 26 miles!

Got the pace down to 8:30 and then topped out at 7:40.

Human body is incredible!

FINISH!

WOW! Just WOW! Couldn’t get tears of joy due to 26.2 Miles, but I was speechless. I got my medal, free food, and took pics!

[...] was only one reason why I decided to run this Half Marathon. Since I ran the Wipro San Francisco Marathon, I was eligible to get a challenge medal. In other words, if you ran any of the races from the SF [...]